


Atoms

by Kedreeva



Series: 3am Questions [3]
Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Fluff, Multi, Sarcasm, Threegulls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:48:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5465465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kedreeva/pseuds/Kedreeva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Duke asks questions about atoms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Atoms

            They are three shots too far into drinking to be able to make it up the stairs to Audrey’s apartment alone by the time Audrey finds them sitting at the Gull’s bar. There’s an empty bottle of whiskey laying on its side and another with the lid cracked sitting between them, and the first thing Audrey does is take it for herself. Nathan watches her sideways, head pillowed on his arm, and she has to pull the bottle out of Duke’s reach when he wobbles to his feet and attempts to help her pour.

            “I’m a bartender,” he tells her, words slurry and sliding.

            She gives him a look and places the bottle out of his reach, throws back the only shot she’s going to take, and then sits on the stool next to Nathan’s. “So was I.”

            He squints at her, because that’s  _technically true_ , and then seems to decide it’s not worth the argument. Or possibly he just cannot find his way to words. Instead, he sinks back down onto the stool he’s grabbed from their side of the bar and looks at Nathan.

            “Thought you weren’t comin’ back ‘til midnight,” Nathan says, voice warm and muzzy.

            “Well,” she tells him slowly, “it’s nearly two.”

            Nathan hums some form of thoughtful sound and starts to lift his head. He sinks back down with a noise that indicates that was a very poor idea, and then closes his eyes, repeats the noise louder, and opens them again. “I’m- I am made of regret.”

            “Yeah,” Audrey agrees. If he isn’t currently, he will be by morning; even though he can’t feel it, his stomach will be upset and his head will spend the night spinning with his loss of balance. She’s glad they all have the day off together, because she’s going to have to keep an eye on both of them.

            “I’m made of atoms,” Duke says, like it’s a joke, one that must make sense to him on some level even though Audrey thinks it must be a level at least six shots higher than she’s willing to take. She doesn’t tell him that.

            “Everything’s made of atoms,” Nathan shoots back, the sort of quarrelsome that almost makes him seem sober. His brow scrunches up like he’s trying to figure out why Duke doesn’t know that.

            Duke leans on the bar with both elbows, his face resting between his fisted hands. “What about shadows?” he asks intensely.

            Nathan’s eyes narrow and unfocus, and Audrey can practically see the gears in his head fighting to turn against the fog. There is a reason he doesn’t normally drink like this, and she begins to wonder  _why_ they started. She’s not sure she wants to know the answer; on quiet nights the past has time to whisper sweet nothings to their demons, to dig in claws made of guilt and  _what ifs_.

Duke sinks even further onto his elbows, now almost melted across the distance between them over the bar. “What about dreams, Nathan?” he asks.

            Audrey doesn’t interrupt them, is just starting to wonder if their entire night has been like this when Nathan hauls himself to his feet, both hands on the bar for stability. He picks up his shot glass, moves it two inches to the right, and then sets it carefully down again. “We- let’s go find out,” he says, and then moves the shot glass back.

            “Your keys are in the office,” Audrey tells him and has to contain her laughter when he squints at the glass as though it is to blame for such a transgression. “Neither of you are going anywhere tonight.” She looks at Duke, who is already half asleep where he is leaning on the countertop, and adds: “Or probably most of tomorrow. Come on.”

            She takes Nathan’s arm and helps him to weave toward the door. Behind her, Duke shambles to his feet a little too quickly, knocking over his own shot glass in his flail. Audrey rolls her eyes, but she only has enough ability to help one of them right now, so Duke is on his own until she can get Nathan up the stairs.

            It is quite the adventure, but she does eventually get them both up the stairs and into her apartment. They don’t spend as much time here as they used to do, but it’s clean and the bed is made and she knows there is at least enough food to make breakfast in the morning. She ensures that Nathan is not going to fall out of her bed and then goes back to Duke, finds him standing in the entrance, leaning against the door frame.

            “Audrey,” he says, foggy but serious, and she stops before touching him. “We- we’re all made of atoms.”

            “Yeah,” she says softly, reaching out to touch his arm. He leans into it without hesitation, something which still makes her smile. He’s come a long way since they met.

            He blows out a low breath and his face scrunches a little. “All the… all the atoms, they don’t… go away.”

“No,” Audrey assures him, even though she has no idea where this is going. He seems genuinely concerned, though, and she knows he won’t sleep as long as that’s true.

            Duke nods and then totters away from the door frame just enough to be standing all by himself. “Good,” he declares as he moved past her to head for the bed. “That’s good. They don’t go away. We can’t- lose them, too.”

            Audrey’s heart crawls into her throat as she realizes what he means. He is halfway across the room by the time she catches him, halts him by his name on the edge of a breath. He doesn’t flinch when she wraps her arms around his middle from behind, presses her cheek to his warm back. After a few heartbeats, his fingers find her forearm, laying against her skin without pressure.

            “It’s okay,” he tells her, rubbing her arm to soothe her. It is ridiculous to hear that kind of comfort from him right now, but she doesn’t know what to say to return the sentiment, so she just squeezes tighter.

            She isn’t sure how long they stand like that, but eventually her grip slackens and Duke shifts so that he can tug her around to his side instead, one arm over her shoulders as he nudges her toward the bed. They manage to both crawl in, only disturbing Nathan when Audrey leans over to kiss his cheek good night.

            Then she wraps herself around Duke, knowing that the still, quiet atmosphere of the apartment will do nothing to take his mind away from the thoughts they’d started drinking to avoid. Things will be easier by the light of day, and she promises herself that when he is done nursing his headache and done being irritated Nathan can’t actually  _feel_ the headache, that she will talk to them both.

            For now, she thinks, she will watch over them both until sleep claims them, safeguard their dreams- no matter what those dreams are made of.

 


End file.
